The Elephantine Escape Every instinct told me to run, but I stood my ground. A colossal elephant stood in front of me, ready to charge. I was at the zoo, and I had kind of, sort of, accidentally, maybe (I’m still hoping this is all a dream!), let the elephants out of their enclosure.
I looked around me in anticipation of finding someone or something to help me. I needed some sort of hindrance or distraction, to divert the herd’s view, and to give me time to think. All around me, people were screaming at the top of their lungs and running, full speed, towards the zoo exit. Believe me, I wanted to run, but I just couldn’t allow myself. I had messed up, and I wasn’t going to simply give up and let the elephants wreak havoc on the zoo.
“Come here, Ellie,” I whispered sweetly, using a nickname for my two-ton acquaintance.
My voice was shaking and I was more panicky than I had ever been before. The stupendous mammal showed no sign of movement. Alright, it was time to get serious.
“DUMBO! Get your huge butt into the enclosure!” I was nearly breaking the sound barrier. For a split second it looked like she was smirking at me. I was not going to be manipulated by a huge grey animal. I was better than that, I thought to myself.
“And take the rest of your friends, too!” I stopped to take a deep breath. “C’mon, go! I don’t have all d-”
I paused mid sentence and realized that the entire zoo population had left the courtyard I was in. A monkey watched me with a curious stare before swinging onto a different tree.
Oh great. I was alone in the zoo. Just me. No one to help, nowhere to hide. I was flabbergasted. How was I, a guy with no knowledge of animals, supposed to get massive creatures that probably weighed over a ton each back into their cage?
It only took a few moments of contemplation to come up with a plan. I ran to the food stand and grabbed a bag of peanuts. Then, I carefully made a line of them leading to the elephant enclosure. ‘Cause elephants love peanuts, right?
Wrong. The herd of four, which I had conveniently dubbed Ellie, Greyson, Dumbo, and Tiny, didn’t even notice the peanuts. I was nearly out of ideas and barely thinking straight. A cold bead of sweat dripped down my forehead. I was already exhausted.
“Elephants have really great memories, am I right? Well please, do me a favor, remember the darn training you got, and get into your rightful place.” I murmured, almost to myself.
The monstrous animals didn’t even blink.
I was fed up now, and feeling rather humiliated. I tried to think of other ways to direct the elephants back into the habitat but I couldn’t think of anything. Wait! I had forgotten that my cellphone was in my pocket! Wow, I felt so absent minded. How could I forget about my phone? God, I hoped it wasn’t out of power.
My fears were confirmed. The battery sign on my phone was blinking with a red “x” on it. That meant my phone was quickly dying. If I was going to call someone, I’d better do it fast. I speedily typed in my best friend André’s number and pressed “call.”
“Hello?”
“Hi André, it’s Josh.”
“Oh, hey Josh! What’s up? Y’know we really need to hang out soon, I mean my parents are out of town and we could throw a par-”
“Dude, this is serious! If you ever needed to get an elephant back into it’s cage, how would you do it?” I interrupted.
“Woah, what are you doing?”
“It doesn’t matter now, I’ll explain later” I retorted, losing energy and patience.
“Calm down, man! Okay, I would probably get some mice and scare the elephants. Because elephants are supposed to be freaked out by mice.”
“Thanks! Now I gotta run, I’ll call you back whenever I can.”
I slid my phone shut right as it was flashing “LOW BATTERY-TURN OFF IMMEDIATELY” across the screen.
I ran through the zoo, looking for some sort of rodent habitat exhibit. The rubber soles of my Chucks were worn through, and I could feel the cobblestone path beneath my feet. When I found the rodent exhibit, I eagerly scanned it for mice. Bingo! To my left were several cages of mice, and they looked awake and ready to scare some elephants.
I lifted up one of the cages (which was surprisingly lighter than I thought it would be) and sprinted back to where I had left the huge beasts. The four elephants were facing away from me, and I decided it was time to put the mice plan into action. I slowly and quietly set the mouse cage down and opened the door. About thirty tiny mice ran out at a blistering speed.
Dumbo was the first to notice the mice. As they approached him, he flinched and took off in the opposite direction. It took less than a second before the other three became visibly unnerved. Tiny and Greyson darted after Dumbo, but Ellie didn’t leave right away.
I could tell she was looking at something, but I wasn’t sure what exactly had caught her attention. I turned around and tried to follow her gaze, but all I saw was a small auditorium that blocked my view. I must have spaced out, because when I turned back around, Ellie was gone.
I seemed to take flight as I charged through the zoo, heading for the elephant enclosure. When I reached the other end of the zoo, I came to a halt. The elephants had run back to their cage, and I was relieved. I pushed the huge iron door closed and attached the lock.
It was time for me to go home and take a well deserved nap.
If only I knew how to explain this to my parents...
Every instinct told me to run, but I stood my ground. A colossal elephant stood in front of me, ready to charge. I was at the zoo, and I had kind of, sort of, accidentally, maybe (I’m still hoping this is all a dream!), let the elephants out of their enclosure.
I looked around me in anticipation of finding someone or something to help me. I needed some sort of hindrance or distraction, to divert the herd’s view, and to give me time to think. All around me, people were screaming at the top of their lungs and running, full speed, towards the zoo exit. Believe me, I wanted to run, but I just couldn’t allow myself. I had messed up, and I wasn’t going to simply give up and let the elephants wreak havoc on the zoo.
“Come here, Ellie,” I whispered sweetly, using a nickname for my two-ton acquaintance.
My voice was shaking and I was more panicky than I had ever been before. The stupendous mammal showed no sign of movement. Alright, it was time to get serious.
“DUMBO! Get your huge butt into the enclosure!”
I was nearly breaking the sound barrier.
For a split second it looked like she was smirking at me. I was not going to be manipulated by a huge grey animal. I was better than that, I thought to myself.
“And take the rest of your friends, too!” I stopped to take a deep breath. “C’mon, go! I don’t have all d-”
I paused mid sentence and realized that the entire zoo population had left the courtyard I was in. A monkey watched me with a curious stare before swinging onto a different tree.
Oh great. I was alone in the zoo. Just me. No one to help, nowhere to hide. I was flabbergasted. How was I, a guy with no knowledge of animals, supposed to get massive creatures that probably weighed over a ton each back into their cage?
It only took a few moments of contemplation to come up with a plan. I ran to the food stand and grabbed a bag of peanuts. Then, I carefully made a line of them leading to the elephant enclosure. ‘Cause elephants love peanuts, right?
Wrong. The herd of four, which I had conveniently dubbed Ellie, Greyson, Dumbo, and Tiny, didn’t even notice the peanuts. I was nearly out of ideas and barely thinking straight. A cold bead of sweat dripped down my forehead. I was already exhausted.
“Elephants have really great memories, am I right? Well please, do me a favor, remember the darn training you got, and get into your rightful place.” I murmured, almost to myself.
The monstrous animals didn’t even blink.
I was fed up now, and feeling rather humiliated. I tried to think of other ways to direct the elephants back into the habitat but I couldn’t think of anything. Wait! I had forgotten that my cellphone was in my pocket! Wow, I felt so absent minded. How could I forget about my phone? God, I hoped it wasn’t out of power.
My fears were confirmed. The battery sign on my phone was blinking with a red “x” on it. That meant my phone was quickly dying. If I was going to call someone, I’d better do it fast. I speedily typed in my best friend André’s number and pressed “call.”
“Hello?”
“Hi André, it’s Josh.”
“Oh, hey Josh! What’s up? Y’know we really need to hang out soon, I mean my parents are out of town and we could throw a par-”
“Dude, this is serious! If you ever needed to get an elephant back into it’s cage, how would you do it?” I interrupted.
“Woah, what are you doing?”
“It doesn’t matter now, I’ll explain later” I retorted, losing energy and patience.
“Calm down, man! Okay, I would probably get some mice and scare the elephants. Because elephants are supposed to be freaked out by mice.”
“Thanks! Now I gotta run, I’ll call you back whenever I can.”
I slid my phone shut right as it was flashing “LOW BATTERY-TURN OFF IMMEDIATELY” across the screen.
I ran through the zoo, looking for some sort of rodent habitat exhibit. The rubber soles of my Chucks were worn through, and I could feel the cobblestone path beneath my feet. When I found the rodent exhibit, I eagerly scanned it for mice. Bingo! To my left were several cages of mice, and they looked awake and ready to scare some elephants.
I lifted up one of the cages (which was surprisingly lighter than I thought it would be) and sprinted back to where I had left the huge beasts. The four elephants were facing away from me, and I decided it was time to put the mice plan into action. I slowly and quietly set the mouse cage down and opened the door. About thirty tiny mice ran out at a blistering speed.
Dumbo was the first to notice the mice. As they approached him, he flinched and took off in the opposite direction. It took less than a second before the other three became visibly unnerved. Tiny and Greyson darted after Dumbo, but Ellie didn’t leave right away.
I could tell she was looking at something, but I wasn’t sure what exactly had caught her attention. I turned around and tried to follow her gaze, but all I saw was a small auditorium that blocked my view. I must have spaced out, because when I turned back around, Ellie was gone.
I seemed to take flight as I charged through the zoo, heading for the elephant enclosure. When I reached the other end of the zoo, I came to a halt. The elephants had run back to their cage, and I was relieved. I pushed the huge iron door closed and attached the lock.
It was time for me to go home and take a well deserved nap.
If only I knew how to explain this to my parents...